Childhood's End
by ReganX
Summary: Being a kid is hard... especially when you're never going to grow up. Complete.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayerand the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey belongs to me.

**The Before She Was Turned Challenge**

Unbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc.  
  
**Requirements:**  
Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.  
The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.  
Someone snuggling with the child.  
A skinned knee.  
  
**Bonus:**  
Harmony retaining some of her humanity, and the child taking on some vampiric traits...

**Author's Note: **Apart from the flashback (in italics), and the prologue, which takes place mid Season Five, this story takes place during the sixth season of 'Buffy'. Assume that Harmony never went to L.A.

**

* * *

**

**Prologue**

She didn't even have a soul.

How could it hurt so much?

Her heart was dead. It didn't even beat anymore.

How could it be breaking?

_"So what do you think?" She turned around in a slow circle, her arms outstretched, so that her audience of one could get the full benefit of the hideous shade of maroon in which she was swathed._

_The only reply she got was a giggle._

"_You're right, it looks awful."_

"_Ess." Her companion nodded sagely._

_Harmony grinned. "At least you've got my fashion sense. Uggh!" She glared down at her maroon graduation robe. "Why couldn't they listen to me? I **begged **them to get teal. This is so not my colour."_

"_Dwess yucky." The toddler announced uncompromisingly from her crib. "Mommy pwitty."_

_Grinning, Harmony scooped the tiny girl, a miniature of herself in colouring, form and features, up and hugged her tightly._

"_You always know what to say to cheer Mommy up, don't you?"_

"_Ess."_

_Cradling her daughter in her arms, she found it hard to imagine that there had ever been a time when she had looked upon her as a burden, as an embarrassment, as something to got rid of as soon as possible._

_That plan had been forgotten twenty-one months ago, as soon as they had placed her daughter's tiny, five and a half pound body in her arms._

_Her parents had been adamant that she never mention the existence of her child to anyone, even her closest friends._

_Lacey Kendall was a closely guarded secret._

"_Harmony," Her mother called her name softly from the door._

"_It's okay, Mom." Harmony grinned. "She's awake."_

_No matter how hard they tried to get her to take a proper night's sleep, Lacey was a true morning person; often awake before the dawn chorus, despite insisting on staying up half the night before. The toddler seemed to have a knack for managing on only a few hours of sleep, a gift that Harmony would have relished during the early months of her little daughter's life._

"_You'd better get going, honey." Mrs Kendall gently pried her granddaughter out of her only child's arms. "You don't want to be late for your last day of school, do you?"_

"_Mom," Harmony's voice was quiet, uncharacteristically shy. "For the ceremony, do you think you could bring . . ."_

"_No." Her mother cut her off sharply before softening and continuing in a more gentle tone. "You've kept your secret for so long, you know what people will say about you if they find out. Is that what you want." Not giving her daughter a chance to reply, she continued. "After graduation, you two can go away, like we planned. You've got your trust fund from your grandpa, you can start fresh."_

_Knowing that arguing with her formidable mother was futile, Harmony nodded in resignation, reaching out to take Lacey for a final hug before leaving._

"_Be a good girl for Nanna, munchkin." She kissed the top of her daughter's head, smoothing the soft blonde curls. "I'll see you after graduation."_

_She had, but not in the way she had planned to._

_Rumours about what had happened at the ill-fated graduation ceremony were running rampant and nobody knew what to believe. Even though her parents had been present, they had no idea what had happened to her._

_Harmony watched from the darkened garden as her parents took it in turns to call everyone who might have any idea where she was, their expressions becoming more and more hopeless as the night wore on with no word of their daughter's fate._

_Even little Lacey was quiet, knowing that something was amiss._

_She stayed where she was, never saying a word or moving a muscle, until she sensed the approach of dawn and melted away._

_From inside the house, Lacey Kendall toddled over to the window, her blue eyes finding the spot where her mother had been standing, only to see her retreating back._

"_Mommy."_

Unbeknownst to her parents Harmony spent many nights standing outside her window, watching them, and watching Lacey.

She had seen the ambulance, seen her little girl, impossibly pale, carried out by anxious paramedics, and followed.

* * *

Her child was dying.

The doctors had told her as much when she had told them her name and her parents had confirmed it.

The meningitis had attacked swiftly and the three and a half year old had failed to respond to treatment.

She wouldn't last the night.

Lacey's long blonde hair, the same shade as her mother's, had never been cut and the silky tresses reached her tiny waist.

Icy tears flowing down her cheeks, Harmony lifted her little girl into her arms, rocking her back and forth as she had the first time Lacey had been placed in her arms.

The little girl's breathing was shallow but she smiled up at her mother, a trusting expression in her blue eyes.

Pushing her child's hair away from her neck, Harmony allowed herself to morph into her vampiric face, sinking her fangs into Lacey's neck, draining her lifeblood as quickly and as gently as possible, not wanting her to suffer, waiting until her heartbeat had slowed almost to a stop before biting her own wrist and allowing the blood to trickle slowly into the little girl's mouth.

She had given Lacey life before, now she was doing it a second time.

She had to kill her child to allow her to live.

TBC.

_Author's Note: Should I bother continuing with this story? Please review and let me know what you think. Does anyone have any idea what category I should put this story in?_


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey Kendall belongs to me.

The Before She Was Turned Challenge Unbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc. 

**Requirements:**

Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.  
The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.  
Someone snuggling with the child.  
A skinned knee.

**Bonus:**

Harmony retaining some of her humanity, and the child taking on some vampiric traits...

**Author's Note I: **I'd like to thank everyone who was kind enough to review the prologue and to apologise for the long delay in updating. I've been swamped with school work lately, and this chapter is the result of a long delay at the airport.

**Author's Note II: **The events of this chapter take place nearly a year after the end of the first chapter. Harmony never went to L.A. Although Lacey is physically three and a half, she is almost a year older mentally.

>

**Chapter 1**

When Buffy had been very young, four, maybe five years old, she had obstinately refused to go to sleep without having the nightlight on her bedside locker switched on, insisting, despite her mother's assurances to the contrary, that there were monsters living under it.

Now, at twenty-one, she not only knew for a fact that monsters existed, she spent a significant portion of her time fighting to protect the world from them.

_/I **did **say that I was going to be a superhero when I grew up. / _She thought ruefully, remembering the Power Girl costume she had practically lived in at the age of eight.

After Celia had died, she had thrown the costume away, and never played Power Girl again.

As patrols went, this one had been fairly successful, with three out of three vampires staked so far – even if the ct she had rescued from a toppled garbage can had been less than appreciative.

_/One more sweep of the park, and then I'll head home. /_

She hadn't even reached the park gates when she heard the screams.

A woman, in her twenties perhaps, with short fair hair, struggled in the grasp of a vampire, while her child looked on.

Harmony, sated, tossed the woman aside and reached for the child, only to be knocked off balance by the weight of an angry Slayer, who had launched herself on the vampire.

Her attempts to reach past the shorter woman were abruptly halted when the Slayer held a large wooden cross in front of her eyes, its close proximity causing the vampire a blinding headache that temporarily disorientated her.

Harmony's victim lay sprawled on the ground gazing up at the sky, her body already cooling, her eyes glassy and opaque.

Buffy couldn't help her, but she could keep Harmony from taking dessert.

Flinging the cross at the blonde vampire, she took advantage of her opponent's momentary weakness and scooped the tiny girl into her arms, sprinting towards her house at full speed, an indignantly howling Harmony in hot pursuit.

_/Boy, / _Buffy thought grimly. _/She does not like it when people keep her from her food. /_

Although Harmony, as a vampire, possessed superior speed and stamina, the gifts of a Slayer far outstripped hers and, even burdened by the weight of the now crying little girl in her arms, Buffy was still able to get away and she ran as fast as she could towards her house, where she knew Harmony could not follow without an invitation.

Drawn to the door by the child's crying and the sound of running feet, Xander came perilously close to being flattened by a charging Buffy when he opened the door.

Once the two were inside, and the door was shut and locked, he turned his attention to Buffy's crying companion.

"Who's this?"

"I found her in the park. Her mom is d. . ." She glanced down at the child. "D-E-A-D."

"V-A-M-P-I-R-E?"

Buffy nodded confirmation, holding out her hand to the little girl, who shrank away from her.

"I want my Mommy." Her voice was soft, almost inaudible.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Buffy was surprised, and a little hurt, when the little girl shrank away from her as she knelt down. "Your mommy isn't here right now."

"What's your name, princess?" Xander leaned forward so that his head was level with the child's.

"Lacey." She put her thumb in her mouth. "I want to go home."

"I know." Buffy felt like taking the child in her arms, hugging and consoling her, but Lacey pulled away, taking Xander's hand and clinging to it for dear life.

Thinking that it might be better to leave the little girl be for a little while, Buffy turned her attention to Xander.

"Was everything okay while I was gone? Dawn wasn't any trouble?"

Despite her younger sister's protests that she was old enough to be trusted alone, and that she was more than capable of looking after herself for a few hours, Buffy preferred to have someone babysit if she, Willow and Tara were out, much to Dawn's disgust.

"She was fine." Xander reported cheerfully. "She's asleep."

"Buffy?" A slightly sleepy voice called, as if on cue, from upstairs. "Is that you?"

"At least she _was_." Xander amended smoothly, not missing a beat.

A minute later the pyjama clad teenager appeared at the bottom of the staircase.

"What's going on? How was patrol?" Her eyes fell on Lacey, who regarded the newcomer with a mixture of curiousity and apprehension. "Where did you find her?"

"The park."

"My Mommy brought me there." Lacey's words were slightly muffled by the thumb in her mouth.

"Oh." Dawn met her sister's gaze. "And mommy is . . ." She almost didn't want to know.

"Yup." Buffy confirmed gloomily.

"So what now?"

Nobody had an answer to Xander's question.

>

Fear and fury warred within Harmony as she watched the scene from the garden, unable to enter, unable to snatch her child away to safety, unable to do anything but watch as the Slayer and her friends fawned over her little girl.

Contrary to popular opinion, Harmony was not entirely devoid of intelligence.

If she were to try breaking down the door, demanding that Lacey be returned to her, they would want to know why, and if they found out that she was a vampire . . .

The mere thought filled Harmony with horror.

She couldn't put her daughter at risk like that.

All she could do was watch.

>

"Lacey?" Dawn crouched down in front of the silent child. "Do you want to come into the kitchen with me and get something to eat? We've got ice-cream." She added temptingly.

The little girl considered her question carefully before nodding solemnly. "Okay."

The teenager held out her hand. "Let's go, then."

Lacey hung back, tightening her grasp on Xander's hand. "You take me."

"Okay."

The little girl held out her arms to be lifted, allowing Xander to carry her into the kitchen, out of earshot.

"What happened tonight?" Dawn asked quietly, not wanting their tiny guest to hear her.

"Lacey was with her mom in the park." Buffy's grim tone did not bode well for Harmony. "Don't ask me what they were doing there so late. Harmony killed her, right in front of her kid. She wanted to take Lacey too."

"She's just a little kid!" Dawn was appalled. "What is she – three?"

"About that."

"So what are we going to do with her now?"

"Hang onto her for tonight, I guess, then maybe call the police in the morning, see if they can find her family."

"And what will you tell them about where you found her?"

"I've got until tomorrow morning to think of something."

"What if they think that you had something to do with killing her mom?" Dawn asked practically. "It _does _look suspicious that you just happened to be there. I don't think they'd swallow 'a vampire killed her' and you can't expect lacey to be able to tell them what happened."

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"But what if . . ."

Whatever else Dawn might have said was lost as Xander's surprised cry drew their attention to the kitchen.

"You guys might want to take a look at this." He called out, a healthy dose of urgency in his tone.

Lacey, exploring the refrigerator in search of a snack, had taken possession of one of the mugs of pig's blood that Spike, despite Buffy's commands to refrain from doing so, kept stocked for his use.

She looked up at the horrified trio, her innocent, angelic expression tarnished somewhat by the trickle of blood running down her chin, the barely visible ridges marring her forehead and her tiny, bloodstained fangs.

"I was thirsty."

TBC.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey Kendall belongs to me.

**The Before She Was Turned Challenge**

Unbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc.  
**  
Requirements:  
**Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.  
The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.  
Someone snuggling with the child.  
A skinned knee.

* * *

**Chapter 2.**

"I don't believe this!" Buffy hissed, her eyes blazing with fury. "She turned a little kid? What kind of sick freak . . ." She trailed off, unable to continue.

If looks could kill, then little Lacey would have fried the Slayer to a crisp with her glares.

_/I should have got there sooner. /_ Buffy berated herself. _/Harmony must have turned Lacey just before I got there. If I'd been a few minutes earlier. Her poor mother! /_ She felt nauseous. _/She had to watch her daughter turned. /_

She didn't even want to think what had been going through Harmony's mind when she had decided to make herself a tiny playmate.

Lacey put down the cup, her forehead ridges and fangs reforming into human, childlike features.

Could she kill a child?

"Buffy, wait." Xander scooped the little girl up, shielding her instinctively, despite knowing what she was. "She's just a little kid." He set Lacey to her feet. "You wait for us in the living room, honey."

"Okay." Lacey trotted off cheerfully enough.

"Xander, I have to." Buffy tried to convince herself as well as her friend. "You saw – she's a vampire. A killer."

"Not yet." Xander paused abashed. "I mean, she's a vampire already, but she's not a killer, not yet, not if she was just turned."

"But she will."

"So you'll kill her for something that she hasn't done yet?" Dawn took Xander's part. "Yeah, that's fair. She can't help being a vampire."

"Dawn, it's in her nature. . ."

"We don't know that." Xander pointed out. "She was hungry, but did she try to attack one of us? No – she went for the pig's blood."

"For all we know she _can't _kill." Dawn pointed out logically. "Maybe her fangs are too small."

"Seriously, Buff, can you see someone Lacey's size managing to overpower anything bigger than a squirrel, vampire strength or no vampire strength?"

"She doesn't know that she's supposed to kill people." Dawn pleaded. "And if we keep her away from Harmony she doesn't ever have to know."

"It's okay for Spike to have killed hundreds of people, all because he has a chip now." Xander pointed out acidly. "Lacey's never hurt anyone."

Buffy sighed.

Her duty as a Slayer had always been plain.

To find the vampires, to slay the vampires.

Faced with a vampire less than three feet tall, however, things didn't seem so black and white.

"We can get Willow to reensoul her." Dawn suggested, seeing her older sister's resolve falter.

"And then what?" Buffy exhaled, exasperated. "It's not like we can leave a mini vampire on the steps of an adoption agency.

"We'll work that out later." Xander said. "There has to be a solution, one that doesn't involve infanticide."

Buffy gave him a half smile, privately relieved to be allowed to be convinced not to perform a task she found repugnant.

"Okay." She said at last. "Let's see how things work out."

* * *

Lacey had been sitting in the living room when they rejoined her, an adorably angelic, innocent expression on her face, masking her inner turmoil.

She had tried to get out of the house, to find her mother, but the front door had been locked and she had been too short to reach the latch.

The little vampire was astute enough to realize where she was – in the house of the Slayer – and to know how dangerous her position was.

Her mother had told her about the Slayer, warning her about how dangerous they were and she had heard the young woman argue in favour of her death with her own ears.

The other two were nice, she liked them, but the Slayer scared her.

She shivered.

She was tired and she wanted to go to sleep, but she didn't have her bed or her blankie, and the blood in the cup had tasted funny, not as nice as the blood her mommy gave her in her special cup.

"I want to go to my Mommy." Her blue eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry, Lacey." Xander crouched down in front of her, gently wiping away her tears. "I'm afraid you can't go to your Mommy, but you can stay here with us, at least for a while." He gave her a goofy smile, eliciting a slight giggle from the shy toddler. "That'll be fun, won't it?"

"I'm sleepy." She confessed softly, trying not to yawn.

"Okay."

Xander had already been won over by the tiny girl's charms, the Summers sisters noted with amusement.

Little Lacey had won herself a loyal slave.

"She can sleep in my room." Dawn volunteered. "I'll move the pullout bed into Buffy's room and sleep there."

"Do I get a say in that?" Buffy asked, a faint touch of sarcasm mingled with her amusement at her younger sister's coolly dictatorial manner.

"Of course not." Dawn's response was matter of fact.

Lacey watched the sisters solemnly, before reaching out a hand to Xander.

"Can I have a story?" Her eyes were wide and appealing. "Please?"

"Sure thing."

Buffy watched the two leave the room and mount the stairs to Dawn's bedroom, Xander measuring his stride to Lacey's small steps, unsure as to how she should proceed.

She couldn't kill a child, and, as Xander and Dawn had argued, Lacey hadn't actually done anything.

_/Yet. /_

"I'm going to need some help with this one."

She hadn't intended her comment to be audible, but Dawn heard and responded.

"Let's see," Her tone was one of cherubic innocence more suited to a child Lacey's age than to a teenager. "We have a problem with a very little vampire. Gee, it's a shame that we don't know a vampire, say one living in a crypt nearby, who could help us out, maybe give us some advice. Oh wait . . ." She snorted derisively at her sister. "It must be the hair."

* * *

It wasn't until she scented the approach of dawn that Harmony could bring herself to leave her hiding place in the Summers' garden.

On the one hand, she was relieved.

Lacey had been unmasked as a vampire but, thanks to the intervention of Xander – who would have thought that she would ever be grateful to _him _for anything? – and Dawn, her little girl had been granted a reprieve.

Lacey was safe, at least for now, but that didn't stop her wondering.

Was her baby girl okay? Since the night she had turned Lacey, she and her child had not been separated for any length of time.

What if she had a nightmare? What if she called out for her during the night and she wasn't there? Would Buffy know that Lacey liked sugar stirred in with her blood? Would she care?

The tears that rolled down her cheeks were as cold as ice.

Harmony had to force herself to be calm, to think rationally.

She hadn't seen much of her minions since her little group had disbanded, before Lacey was turned, but she was confident that she could regather them, or else recruit new ones and they would be able to help her.

She would get her child back, if she had to wipe out half of Sunnydale to do it.

TBC.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey Kendall belongs to me.

**The Before She Was Turned Challenge**

Unbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc.  
**  
Requirements:  
**Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.  
The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.  
Someone snuggling with the child.  
A skinned knee.

**Author's Note: **To Imzadi – Harmony didn't call and explain because she was afraid that Lacey would end up with a stake to the heart. Buffy & Co. think that Lacey was just turned.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

_**The next evening.**_

Spike knew almost as soon as he saw her.

"Harmony didn't kidnap her."

"What. . .?"

"The little bit looks like Harm, smells like Harm. . ." He glanced down at little Lacey. "What's your last name, platelet?"

"Kendall." Her voice was soft. "Lacey Kendall."

"Has the same last name as Harm." Spike finished, smirking at Buffy's discomfort. "You didn't think to ask what her last name was?"

"You mean. . .?"

"Yup." The blond vampire was clearly enjoying himself. "Congratulations, Slayer. You snatched Harm's kid. It's a proud day for good guys everywhere."

"Harmony doesn't have a child." _/She couldn't. /_

"Harmony's my mommy's name." Lacey piped up, favouring Spike with a shy smile, relieved to see another of her kind. Maybe now she would be able to go back to Mommy.

You had to be very careful about trusting humans, especially the Slayer, but vampires were okay.

"You sure about that?" Spike quipped.

Buffy just glared at him.

* * *

Assembling her minions had not been as difficult as she had imagined it would be.

The promise of chaos and mayhem had already gathered six or seven vampires under her banner and she expected others to join them.

Sure, most of the minions she had gathered together didn't have two brain cells to rub together, but their job didn't require any great intelligence and, in any case, beggars couldn't be choosers.

Absently clutching Lacey's purple unicorn, a gift for her daughter's first Christmas, Harmony reviewed her 'To Do List', trying her hardest not to worry about whether her baby was scared or lonely without her.

If she let herself think about it, she was half-afraid that she'd drive herself insane.

Pen poised over paper, she went over her plan again.

_1. Find minions._

_2. Train minions._

_3. Send minions on killing spree._

_4. Go to her house._

_5. Get Lacey back._

Her plan mightn't have been the most elaborate, but she knew that Buffy wouldn't stay at home while a gang of vampires went on a rampage, just as she knew that the one left babysitting wasn't going to be among the Scooby gang's better fighters.

She had no worries about whether or not she would be able to fight off Xander or Dawn once Lacey had invited her in.

She was a bit surprised by how much she was relishing the thought of causing some proper havoc, enjoying a good fight.

It had been more that a year since Lacey had been turned and, aside from hunting for food and raiding the blood bank, she had kept a fairly low profile, partly because she couldn't leave Lacey alone, partly because she was somehow uninterested in the killing sprees many of her kind thrived on.

Now, she felt ready to make up for lost time.

* * *

"I never knew that Harmony had a kid." Willow knelt down in front of the little girl, taking the small hand in hers. "Hi, Lacey. I'm Willow."

"Hiya." Lacey whispered shyly.

"She did a good job of hiding it, I'll give her that." Buffy conceded. "I never even noticed her getting fat or anything." She glanced across at the red-haired witch. "Are you ready to do this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Willow looked troubled. "But do you really think that I should, I mean . . ."

"We can't leave her as she is." Buffy pointed out quietly.

"Red's got a point." Spike chimed in his two cents. "You want her to shove a soul in the tiny bit? Isn't one broody git annoying enough?"

"We have to." Buffy insisted. "We can't leave her like this or she'll grow up. . ."

"She won't." Spike interrupted. "That's kind of the point to being a vamp."

"You know what I mean!" Buffy exhaled impatiently. "We don't want her to be, you know E-V-I-L." She spelled it out, rather than say it in Lacey's hearing.

"Is it going to hurt?" Lacey asked softly.

She wanted to run but there were too many of them, and they were too big. They'd catch her before she got to the door.

She wished that her Mommy was there to stop them.

"Of course it's not going to hurt." Xander picked her up and held her. "Right, Will?" He gave his friend a pointed glare.

"Of course not." Willow echoed. "Just sit down on the couch with Xander and relax, okay? It'll be over in a minute."

* * *

_**One minute later.**_

Responding to the witch's chanting, the Orb of Thesulac flickered for the briefest of instants then, instead of glowing with the pale, bright light they had expected, it remained smoky and opaque.

Jolted from her trance, Willow shook herself lightly, trying to get her bearings.

"It's no good." She said quietly.

"You can't give her her soul back?" Buffy demanded worriedly. "Why? You've done it before? Why not now?"

Willow smiled ever so slightly. "Because she's already got it."

TBC.

_Author's Note: I know this chapter is a bit on the short side. I'll have an update posted as soon as it's written. Please review and let me know if there are any requests._


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer' and the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey belongs to me.

**The Before She Was Turned Challenge**

Unbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc.

**Requirements:**

Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.

The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.

Someone snuggling with the child.

A skinned knee.

**Bonus:**

Harmony retaining some of her humanity, and the child taking on some vampiric traits...

**Author's Note I: **To gidgetgirl – You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. Because Lacey was turned out of love, pure motives, etc., without any desire to hurt on Harmony's part, some of the rules that govern vampires don't apply to her – you may remember that she was able to enter Buffy's house without an invitation a few chapters ago. When she's with Harmony, Lacey's soul rubs off on her, giving Harmony a soul-by-proxy – like Darla's when she was pregnant with Connor.

**Author's Note II: **To dawn-roberts - No reason we can't both take the challenge. Let me know if you do, I'd like to read someone else's interpretation.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4**

_**The next evening.**_

"No way!"

"Not a chance."

Spike and Xander refused simultaneously. There were some things that a guy justshouldn't have to do, and playing 'Princesses' was one of them.

"How about some cartoons?" Xander suggested coaxingly.

"Or we could use the boy for target practice."

"Hey!" Xander scowled.

"Please." Lacey's tone was soft, and that was all she said, but it was enough.

They could have held out against coaxing, screaming or even a full fledged temper tantrum but they were helpless when faced with the quiet toddler's softly worded request.

"Fine." Spike muttered through gritted teeth. "But you tell nobody about this, understand?"

Lacey nodded solemnly, favouring them with a smile that could have won anybody over.

'Princesses' was her and Mommy's favourite game.

She hoped that they'd be able to play it together again soon.

* * *

As Sunnydale was built on a Hellmouth, it was pretty much a given that patrols would rarely, if ever be quiet affairs, but, with four out of four vampires dusted in as many minutes, Buffy had a feeling that this was going to be a busy night.

_/Don't these guys ever learn/_

Sadly for her, they hadn't even had the decency to stick to their own hunting grounds and attack her individually, and even more sadly for them, they also lacked the intelligence to avoid her.

This group, rather than running the other way at her approach, had attacked in unison, luckily with far more enthusiasm than skill.

The fight - if one could dignify it with that term - had been over in less than five minutes.

Despite their lack of fighting prowess, however, one or two of them had managed to strike some fairly decent blows.

_/That one's going to leave a bruise. / _The Slayer winced as she examined her tender shoulder. _/I guess someone sent them. / _She mused._ /Although whoever did can't be the brightest crayon in the box if they thought that lot. . ./ _The penny dropped. _/Harmony/_

_

* * *

_

With a pale pink bedsheet wrapped around him toga style and another for a skirt, not to mention a blanket for a cloak and a paper crown, Princess Xander of Fairyland looked almost as ridiculous as he felt.

Although little Lacey had been able to outfit herself with one of Dawn's dresses and a plastic tiara used as part of a costume several Halloweens ago, none of the items in either of the Summers girls' closets had come close to fitting their Royal Highnesses Princesses Xander and Spike, so while the former had purloined the bedclothes, the latter had been reduced to wearing a garment composed of the living room curtains.

_/Like the family Von sodding Trapp. / _Spike snorted in derision, holding his long skirts stiffly as Lacey patiently instructed them in the art of the perfect curtsey.

"Very good." The tiny vampire smiled approvingly. "Now we can have our tea party. Princesses have to have tea parties, you know." She informed them knowledgeably.

"I've got an idea, pet." Spike suggested, desperate to get out of his costume before somebody - namely Buffy - saw him. "How about I be a prince instead of a princess? Wouldn't that be better?"

"Uh-huh." Lacey looked enchanted by the idea. "Then you can marry Princess Xander and live happily ever after."

What Spike thought of that idea was not fit for little ears to hear.

"Tea?" Xander offered him a cup of apple juice.

"Please." The blond vampire all but snatched the cup from his hand.

From the doorway Dawn giggled, enjoying the show.

"You two are so whipped!"

* * *

She hadn't expected to find Spike at the house, much less playing 'Princesses'.

Lacey had still been human during their time together, and she had nottold her Blondie Bear about her baby, half-afraid that if he knew of the bond that had still existed between them, he would dump her, or worse, turn her child into a snack.

She couldn't keep from smiling as she watched her little girl carefully straighten the blond vampire's crown before sitting down, daintily arranging her long skirt.

Who would have thought that Spikewould besuch a softie?

Engrossed in the scene, she didn't hear the approaching footsteps or sense the presence of another person until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hello Harmony."

TBC.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey Kendall belongs to me.

**The Before She Was Turned Challenge**

Unbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.  
The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.  
Someone snuggling with the child.  
A skinned knee.

**Author's Note I: **To Marcus Lazarus – I didn't plan to go into details about Lacey's father, but she wasn't a product of date rape or anything like that.

**Author's Note II: **I know it's been ages since I updated, and this is a pretty short chapterbut this story should be done in another chapter or two.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"Mommy!"

It was fortunate that, as a vampire, Lacey did not need to breathe, otherwise her relieved mother's embrace would have smothered her.

"Are you alright?" Harmony asked urgently, kissing her little daughter over and over again.

"Fine, Mommy." Lacey clung tightly to her mother's neck. "Xander played Princesses with me and read stories and everything." The expression on her small face became pensive. "He forgot to put sugar in my blood to make it taste nice, though." The tiny vampire told her mother, not noticing the revolted looks on Buffy and Dawn's faces, or Spike's amused smirk.

"I'll know for next time." Xander said cheerfully, touched despite himself by the mother-daughter reunion.

Harmony scooped her little girl into her arms, hugging her tightly.

Lacey yawned, laying her head on her mother's shoulder. "I miss Sparkles." She confided quietly.

"Well," Harmony tickled her gently before producing a fluffy purple stuffed unicorn. "That I can help with."

"Sparkles!" Lacey cuddled her favourite toy tightly. "Was he good?"

"Very good." Harmony reassured her. "He missed you though." She kissed Lacey's cheek. "I missed you too."

"Lots?"

"Lots and lots."

"Can we go home now?"

"In a little while." It was with great difficulty that Harmony restrained herself from snarling at Buffy, who had spoken. The Slayer looked the elder of the blonde vampires in the eye, knowing that, as a mother, Harmony would cheerfully tear her to pieces if she thought that she was threat to her child. "Please." She tried to keep her voice friendly and even. "We have to talk about a few things first."

* * *

"Did you know that Lacey has a soul?" Willow asked gently, smiling down at the little vampire, who was curled up in her mother's arms, half asleep.

"I didn't _know_." Harmony spoke in a small voice. "Not for sure."

"But you guessed?"

"Kind of. She's always been different, to other vamps, I mean." She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know why."

"Will she, you know, grow up? Physically, I mean." Dawn asked curiously.

"No." Harmony shook her head sadly. "She's nearly five now and she hasn't changed a bit."

"Wow." The thought of being trapped in a toddler's body for eternity was a sobering one for the teenager.

"What were you thinking?" Although Buffy had vowed inwardly to keep from interrogating the blonde vampire, she couldn't refrain from asking the question. "What possessed you to turn her?"

"There was nothing else I could do."Haunted by the memories and terrified, even now, of the thought of how close she had come to losing Lacey, Harmony tightened her grasp on her little daughter. "The doctors couldn't do anything for her. If I hadn't turned her, she would have died."

Spike, who had chosen to turn his own mother rather than watch her waste away and die, could sympathise and, if the expressions on the faces of the other Scoobies were any indication, not even Buffy could wholly condemn Harmony's actions.

Lacey yawned, her blue eyes fluttering open to look up at her mother. "Is it time to go home yet, Mommy?"

For a brief moment Buffy questioned the wisdom of allowing Harmony to take the little girl away, wondering if Lacey wouldn't be better off with them or with Angel, someone who could care for an ensouled child vampire.

After seeing the obvious love Harmony showed her child, and seeing how much Lacey obviously adored her, she knew that she couldn't do that.

"Go on." Her tone was gentle. "We won't try to stop you."

Shifting her little girl into a more comfortable position in her arms, Harmony rose, ready to leave before they changed their minds but she stopped.

Her conscience, rarely active except in Lacey's presence, pricked at her sharply, refusing to allow her to walk away.

"There's something you should know."

"What?" Buffy looked at her former classmate suspiciously.

"Well. . ." Harmony looked away, reluctant to continue. "Promise you won't get mad."

"Harmony!"

"I kind of sent some minions to take the Bronze hostage."

TBC.

_Author's Note: That's all for now, folks. Please don't forget to review._


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey Kendall belongs to me.

**The Before She Was Turned Challenge**

Unbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc.  
**  
Requirements:  
**Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.  
The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.  
Someone snuggling with the child.  
A skinned knee.

**Author's Note I: **To Darklight – I know it's mean, but Lacey's going to have to stay as she is.

**Author's Note II: **Would anyone be interested in seeing a sequel, set about ten years into the future, starring a teenage Lacey, still physically a toddler?

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"How many?" Only an uncharacteristic level of patience allowed Buffy to keep herself from throttling the blonde vampire.

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?" Buffy was incredulous. "You _organized_ it."

"I told the minions that they could bring as many friends as they wanted." Harmony explained.

"An open invitation bloodbath?" Spike raised an amused eyebrow. "Should be fun."

Harmony beamed at him. "That's what I thought. I figured it would be a good way for us to get to know each other and make friends and. . ." She trailed off, smiling sheepishly at the assembled Scooby Gang. "My bad."

* * *

_**Half an hour later.**_

Ordinarily both Xander and Dawn would have objected loudly to being left out of the action, especially for so ignoble a task as babysitting, but little Lacey had already succeeded in wrapping them both around her little finger, ensuring that the two were her loyal slaves.

Only the knowledge that the two would guard Lacey with their lives had persuaded Harmony to leave her child, with whom she had been so recently reunited, to aid in the rescue of the hostages at the Bronze.

At present, the tiny vampire was 'It' in a game of Blind Hide and Seek, stumbling around the living room and kitchen, a scarf tied around her eyes, giggling as she tried to listen for any sounds of movement that would alert her to the whereabouts of her sitters.

She heard a curtain rustle and whirled around in the direction of the sound, her small hands outstretched as she felt her way across the room, carefully avoiding the furniture.

"Got you!" She made a dive for the curtain, missing her target and tumbling forward, bumping her knee against the windowsill.

Xander scooped the crying toddler into his arms, rocking her back and forth, pulling silly faces in a vain attempt to make her laugh.

"Are you okay, honey?" He sat down on the couch, Lacey in his lap.

"My leg hurts." The little girl sniffled as she gestured towards her knee, and a reddening patch that would probably turn into a bruise.

"I'll get the medkit." Dawn volunteered, heading into the kitchen to retrieve the box of medical supplies that was, as a matter of necessity, kept well stocked at all times.

"This looks like a job for Doctor Xander." He laid Lacey down on the couch, examining her injured knee with a suitably grave expression. "Hurry up with those bandages, Nurse." He commanded imperiously.

Dawn obediently handed him the medkit, doing her best to stifle her giggles as Xander, an expression of utmost seriousness on his face, examined Lacey's knee, even going so far as to find a magnifying glass to take a closer look.

"What's the verdict, Doctor?" Dawn asked in a hushed tone.

"It's worse than we thought."

Lacey looked up at Xander in horror. "What's wrong?" She asked timidly.

"I'm afraid we'll have to amputate. Unless," Xander rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Unless. . ." He smiled down at the little vampire. "I only know one other course of treatment."

"What?" Lacey asked innocently.

Grinning, Xander kissed his finger and gently touched Lacey's knee. "All better."

She smiled up at him worshipfully. "All better."

* * *

_**The Bronze, half an hour later.**_

"I can't believe they wouldn't leave when I told them to." Harmony grumbled, glaring down at a small pile of dust that had once been her most loyal follower. "They're my _minions_. They're supposed to do what I say."

"I don't think the present tense applies any more, Harm." Spike pointed out.

"I guess." She looked doleful for a moment before brightening up. "Hopefully my next minions will be better . . .or not." She quailed under Buffy's glare. "No more minions for me, not at all . . .not even one?"

"NO!" Buffy, Spike and Willow chorused.

"Cheer up." Spike clapped a hand on Harmony's shoulder. "We managed to stop a massacre, and you held your own pretty well in there."

"I did?" Her eyes lit up.

"Yeah." Buffy gave her former classmate a small smile.

"It's not the end of the world." Spike consoled his ex. "There are worse things than being a white hat. Can't think of any off hand, but there must be _something_."

"Maybe." Harmony looked thoughtful. "Does this make me part of the gang."

"Uh. . ." Buffy avoided her eyes. "We'll get back to you on that."

* * *

"Anybody home?"

"Shhh!" Dawn glared at her sister, before gesturing towards Lacey, who was curled up in Xander's lap, fast asleep. "Don't wake her."

"Sorry." Buffy obediently lowered her voice.

"Was she okay?" Harmony asked anxiously, sitting down next to Xander and gently stroking her sleeping child's hair.

"An angel." He assured her.

"Doesn't take after her mum then, does she?" Spike quipped, winding up on the receiving end of Harmony's glare for his pains.

"It'll be sunrise in a hour or so." Harmony observed. "We'd better get home."

"Right." Xander seemed slightly reluctant as he relinquished Lacey to her mother.

"Harmony," Buffy began gingerly. "About taking Lacey away from you in the park. . ."

"Don't worry about it." Harmony cut her off generously. "It's not every vamp who can say that the Slayer kidnapped her kid."

"Sorry about that."

"No biggie." Harmony stood, cradling her daughter gently so as not to wake her. "We'd better get going."

"Don't let me see you when I'm on patrol." Buffy warned.

"Don't worry." Harmony grinned. "I'll just get blood from the blood bank for me as well as Lacey. They let us order by type and I won't have to chase down my food. What?" She looked offended by the disapproval in their eyes. "No kid of mine is going to be raised on pigs' blood."

"Fair enough." Buffy conceded.

Lacey yawned, murmuring softly in her sleep.

"We should head."

Xander bent down to plant a gentle kiss on Lacey's forehead.

"You know," He began, smiling shyly. "If you ever need a sitter for Lacey. . ."

Harmony returned his smile with a radiant one of her own. "I'll know who to call."

THE END.

_Author's Note: That's all, folks. Please review, and let me know if anyone would be interested in a sequel._


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